Articulated track skate



May 3 1960 s. w. HAYES 2,935,030

ARTICULATED TRACK SKATE Filed March 25, 1957 2,935,030 Patented May 3, 1960 ARTICULATED TRACK SKATE Stanley W. Hayes, Wayne Township, near Richmond,

Wayne County, Ind., assigner to Hayes Track Appliance Company, Richmond, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application March 25, 1957, Serial No. 648,082

Claims. (Cl. 104-259) The present invention relates to railway car stopping apparatus and has for its object the provision of a new and improved apparatus for effectively stopping a railway car as, for example, at the end of a track. AMore particularly, the present invention relates to a new and improved car stopping means which may be described as a cushion skate wheel stop and has for its primary object the provision of a movable skate which will not become undesirably secured to or stuck to the track as by rust formed between the skate and supporting rail or as a result of nonlinearity or irregularity of the supporting rail.

The present application is a continuation-impart of my earlier applications, Serial Nos. 391,881 and 528,986 filed November 13, 1953, and August 17, 1955, respectively, the latter of which is now abandoned. The earlier of these applications discloses and claims cushion skate wheel stops of a type comprising two principal components of which the movable one is called a skate and the stationary one a stop defining abutment of the cushion type. The skate has a wheel lifter end and a wheel abutment end which are located a fixed distance apart and between which extends wheel supporting and guiding structure or track constituting a trackway upon the rail and operatively connecting the two ends `to form a unit of construction. The skate is slidably mounted on top of the rail for movement therealong to a point determined by the cushion skate defining abutment. As described in the above-identified applications, it is preferred that each installation include two such devices, one on each rail.

The skates are not only slidably mounted on the rail but are held in upright position thereon with some degree of friction by means engaging the opposite undersides of the rail head, which means is adjustable both during installation and at any subsequent time to change the degree of friction against which the skates slide, and moreover, to insure uniform action of the two skates.

In operation, when a car approaches the end of the rails oriwherever the apparatus of the present invention y may be installed, the front wheels of the car are rst lifted by the wheel lifters upon the wheel supporting and guiding structures of the respective skates. The car wheels then roll `along thetrack portions of the skates until the wheels reach the wheel abutment ends of the skates, whereupon further movement .of theV car is retarded vbecause of the fact that the weight of the car When the car is moved away from the abutment, the track skates are slidably moved along the rails until they reach their original positions in which they engage a set of fish plates which are located some distance, such as thirty-five feet, from the abutments. At this time the car wheels ride over the forward ends of the skates leaving the skates on the rails at the fish plates ready to brake the next car which engages them.

It sometimes happens that an excessive amount of friction is provided between the skate and the rail and as a result the skate may become jammed on the track before it finishes its proper movement either during stopping or return operation, more often the latter. One cause of this excessive friction is nonlinearity of the rails either in a horizontal or vertical direction. Since the skates may be approximately eight feet long even slight amounts of irregularities in the straightness of the rails can and do cause this binding of the skate to the rail. If the skate gets stuck during the return movement, it may be left too close to the stop and will not have sufcient movement when next engaged by a car. If it is stuck during the stopping movement, the result is a rigid connection of the skate to the rail so that the desirable cushion stop is not effected.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved skate which is so constructedV that forces the skates down upon the rail, and as a result of the friction between the skates and the rails, a considerable resistance to movement of the skates and car is provided simply by the weight of the car. Should this friction be insufhcient to stop the car within a predetermined distance of the rail, the skates respectively move against one of a set of stop defining abutments which are movably mounted on the rails at predetermined locations and which include Vstructure extending downwardly into the road bed to provide a cushion stop for preventingl further movement of the car.

when it is engaged by the wheels of a moving car, it is slidably moved along the rail irrespective of irregularities in the straightness of the rail.

.In apparatus of the described. character, it sometimes happens that the skates, with the car wheel thereon, are left for a considerable period of time either against the stop defining abutments or at some intermediate point. In many cases rust forms underneath the skates and they are thus undesirably stuck to the track so that when the car is withdrawn from the skates, the latter are not returned to their original and desired starting place with the result that the skates do not function properly.

It is, therefore, another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved skate which is so constructed that it will not be undesirably stuck as by rusting but will be withdrawn to its original starting place when the car is removed from the track end or wherever the skate might be installed. This aspect of the invention thus also contributes to insuring proper operation of the stops in that the skates are always located at the same starting place whereby they provide an effective and uniform stopping action.

Briey, the skate of the present invention is articulated in construction and is, specilically, provided with a wheel lifter end, a Wheel abutment end, and an intermediate track portion and which are movably connected to each other. In addition, the skate of the present invention is provided with a rust inhibiting or rust-proof undersurface preferably'constituted by a strip of hard stainless steel secured underneath the skate. The strip, being made of stainless teel, will not become stuck or frozen to the track, thereby insuring that the skate will always be returned to its initial and' desired starting place upon withdrawal of a car from the skate and thus providing a uniform stopping action.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of an illustrated embodiment thereof, in the course of which description reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a single cushion skate wheel stop mounted on a rail, it being understood that two such stops, one upon each rail, will generally be used in each installation;

Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the assembly of Fig, 1 taken along the line 3--3 thereof;

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a flexible hinge as utilized in the stop of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is an isometric View, partly broken away, of an alternative hinge construction useful in the car stop of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly t0 lFigs. 1 and 2 thereof, the track skate of the present invention is designated as a whole by the reference character and comprises an inclined wheel lifter structure 11, a wheel abutment structure 12 and an intermediate wheel receiving and'supporting structure 13. While only a single track skate 10 is illustrated in the drawing, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each installation includes two stops, one on each rail. Ordinarily, the track skates 10 are installed at a location where adjacent rails are secured to each other by ish plates 16 or by other types of rail joint bars.

When a car approaches the track skate 10 the forward wheels ride up the inclined surface of the wheel lifter 11 and ride onto the wheel receiving and supporting tr-ack section 13V ahead ofY the abutment 12 and which provides a trackway slidably engaging the top of the rail 15 to provide a frictional force which retards the movement of the car. In the event that this frictional force is insuflcient to completely stop the car withina predetermined distance, a combined stop abutting and guide member 18 engages the abutting surface19 of a cushion skate stop 20 (shown fragmentarily in Fig. l) mounted upon the rail 15 and having downwardly extending brackets 21 located at opposite sides of the rail (of which but one is shown) abutting the forward face of the tie 23. The cushion skate stop 20 is so constructed that the nal shock or impact occurring when the skate 10 strikes it is transmitted to the rail tie 23 and associated ballast. If desired, and preferably, the force of impact may be distributed to several ties 23 through the use of anchor bars secured to the tie 23 and to the other ties forward of it, in a manner not shown.

In addition to the guide 18 which has depending arms which loosely extend over the opposite sides of the rail head, the track skate 10 includes a forward guide 25 having arms which depend along the sides of the rail head and a plurality of adjustable clamps 27 at opposite sides and of a type fully described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 648,120, filed March 25, 1957, which is a continuation-in-part of my applications Serial Nos. 407,209 and 597,984, iiled February 1, 1954, and July 16, 1956, respectively, now abandoned. The adjust-,- able clamps 27 include cams 28 rotatably mounted on shaft 29 for adjustment of generally circular oppositely disposed clamping members 30 which are rotatably mounted on shafts 31 welded at their ends to brackets 37 secured to opposite sides of the abutment plate. The clamping members engage the opposite undersides of the rail head (Fig. 3) so as to maintain the wheel skate 10 in an upright position astraddle the rail 15 while at the same time permitting relative sliding movement between the track skate 10 and the rail 15. When the skate 10 is installed on the rail 15, the cams 28 are rotated until the clamps 30 relatively loosely engage the underside of the rail head to secure-the skate 10 to the rail 15 in central upright position while permitting relative sliding movement between the skate and rail. The cams 28 are held in adjusted position by a through wedge 28a.

Normally, the apparatus of the present invention is installed near the ends of the rails. The stops 20 are mounted on the rail with the downwardly extending brackets 21 engaging the tie 23 and the associated skate 10 is located with its front end and holding member 18 in proximity to the iish plate 16, which position is determined by the engagement of the forward clamping means 27 with the plate as illustrated in Fig. 1. The fish plate 16 is located a considerable distance, such as about thirty-tive feet, from the stop 16 so that the skate 10 must be moved through a considerable distance before it nally engages the stop 20. As a car wheel approaches -a skate 10, it rises along the inclined lifter 11, then goes down the opposite side thereof and rides on the wheel receiving and supporting track section 13 until it engages the wheel abutment 12. If the car is traveling with considerable momentum, the wheel may, after initial- 1y striking a forward and lower abutment portion 32, engage a rearward and upper abutment portion 33 before relative movement between the wheel and the skate 10 is terminated.

The abutments 32 and 33 are constructed and arranged in a novel manner as disclosed and claimed in my aforesaid contemporaneously filed application. They are constructed by providing the wheel engaging portion of abutment 12, which is primarily constituted by a plate, with an intermediate arcuate recessed portion 34 which cannot be engaged by the wheel. The lower abutment 32 is located at the front of the abutment and at a height of from one and one-half inches to two and one-half inches above the track section 13. The upper abutment 33 is located at a height of from twelve and one-half to fourteen inches above the track section 13. The recess 34 is cut on a thirteen and three-quarter inch radius. These dimensions are particularly suited for use with normal size wheels which have a radius of sixteen and onehalf inches and provide a maximum distance between the abutments to prevent the wheel from jumping over the abutments. The lower abutment 32 may be constituted by a substantially straight portion about one and one-half inches in length and substantially tangentially disposed relative to a thirty-three inch wheel resting against the abutment surface 32 and the track section, or at an angle of about thirty degrees from the horizontal. The upper abutment may have a length of about one and one-half inches and be disposed at an angle of about twelve and one-half degrees from the vertical. if the car is traveling-with only a small amount of momentum, it may stop moving with respect to the skate 10 as soon as it engages the lower abutment 32, but if the car is traveling with considerable momentum, it will roll onto the abutment 32 and also engage the abutment 33. When both abutments are engaged, the car wheel is in complete connection ywith the abutments 32 and 33 and cannot rise or touch any intermediate points of the abutments or the rail. Also, all stress is carried to the left and downward, as viewed in Fig. 1. Relative movement between the car wheel and the skate 10 then terminates and the skate l'slidably moved along the rail 15 with the result that movement of the car wheel and the car is retarded by the friction of the skate 10 sliding on top of the rail 15 and bearing a considerable portion of the weight of the car. If this friction is insufficient to stop the skate,

the skate finally strikes the cushion skate stop 20 to finally stop the car.

When the car is withdrawn from the skate, the car rides back alongthe elongated central wheel supporting section 13 until the wheel strikes the heel 35 of the lifter 11, at which time the skate will be drawn back from the stop 20 to the fish plate 16. Further movement vof the skate 10 is prevented when the assembly 27 which is secured to the wheel lifter 11 and overhangs the edge Yof the rail 15, engages the fish plate 16. This stops the track skate 10 and further movement of the car causes the wheel to. ride up the. heel 35 and down the forward inclined portion of the wheel lifter 11 onto the-,rail 15'. At this time the track skate 10 is ready to stop. the next car which engages it.

Track skates .10 of the type ordinarily used for stopping railroad, `cars have an overall length of approximately eight feet and, therefore, in order to prevent binding of the widely spaced apart clamps 30 and/or the guides 1.8 and. 25 with the rail 15, particularly during the return'of the skate 10 to the sh plate 16, the track skate is articulated.l `As shown, the skate intermedi- -prises three sections of substantiallyequal length which are flexibly connected. Consequently, each of the clamp-V ing arrangements-27 act independently on ,the head of the rail to support the track skate 10 in an upright position and, irrespectiveof bends, bows, or other irregularities in the straightness of the track ,-11, both in horizontal and vertical directions do not provide a` force couple which binds the skate 10to the rail 15. This is most important aspect of this invention because if, during the return of the skate 10 tothe fish plate 16, such binding were to exert a `sufficient impeding force to stop the skate and permit the carnwheel toride up over the heel 35, the skate 10 would not be returned'to the fish plate 16 and during the next braking operation would be too close to the cushion stop 20 to slow up the car by the desired amount before the skate hit the stop.

Also, the articulation prevents the skate from being rigidly connected to the rail during the stopping operation and thus insures a cushioned stop. Y

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, a more detailed description of the flexible connection 42 will be given. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the connections 41 and 42 are identical and, therefore, only the connection 42 is described in' detail. However, it will be understood that, if expedient, the connections 41 and 42 may be mutually different without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

The leading edge of the wheel abutment 12 is provided with a downwardly openingrectangular notch 45 in which is disposed a connector 46 having a recessed rectangular portion 47 at one end thereof and having a bottom surface 48 which lies flush with the lower face of the wheel abutment 12. A stainless steel bar or strip 49, the purpose of which will be described in greater detail hereinafter, extends along the bottom of the wheel abutment 12 and over the adjoining space 48 of the connector 46. The adjacent end 40a of the skate section 40 is also provided with a rectangular notch 51 and the opposing surfaces 52 and 40a of the connectorj46 and the track 40 are provided with chamfered or rounded corners. A flexible rectangular member 54 which is constructed of any suitable flexible vmaterial such as, for example, a heavy fabric or rubber, a composite of the two, plastic or theflike, is disposed within the recesses 47 and51 and cover plates 57 and 58 are placed over it. The plates 57 and 58, the flexible connector 54, and the members 46 and 40 are provided with a plurality of apertures 60 which are in registry with one another and through which extendV a plurality of connecting pins, screws or rivets 61 which secure the flexible assembly together. The lower surface of the plates 57 and 58 is above the lower surface of the stainless steel bars 49 so that the hinged assembly does not ride on top of the rail 15. The bars 49 are of a Width different from that of the portions of the skate to'which they are secured. For example, thepbars 49 under track 40 and the lifter portion is narrower than the track and base of the lifter portion except at the clamps. The bar 49 under abutment 12 is narrower than the base portion of it except at the clamps, where it is wider or may be of the same width.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 4, inclusive, the flexible connector member 54 is rectangular and has its principal plane disposed in the horizontal plane, but as shown in Fig. 5, the plane of the flexible connector member 54 may be disposed in a vertical direction. Inasmuch as the details of construction of Fig. 5 are essentially the same as those in Fig. 4, no further description thereof is deemed to benecessary. It should be noted, however, that the embodiment of Fig. 5 provides a greater degree of lateral exibility than does the embodiment best shown in Fig. 4.

In the event that the skate remained .removed from the fish plate as, for example, againstthe stop 20 for some period of time and the multipart stainless steel strip 49 were not providedon the4 skate 10, the skate wouldrbe likely to become rusted upon `and frozen to the rail. Consequently, when the car on the skate 10 is moved away, it might ride overthe heel of the skate, leaving the skate 10, too closeto the en d of the rail. This is prevented in accordance with my invention by providing the skate at its underside with` a non-rusting supporting means such uas the runner 49 which may be made from material such as hard stainless steel. The runner maybe secured to the underside ofthe skate in any suitable manner such as by: welding it thereto.

The provision of the stainless steel supports such as the runner 49 at the underside of the skates and articulation of the skates insures uniform operation ofthe skates at all times. The skates will not` become rusted to the rails and Will thus always be withdrawn to their initial starting positions by the car wheels. K They` will, therefore, be ready to operate in their intended manner without requiring checking and manual return.

In operation, when a railroad rcar approaches the end of the rails on which two of the skates 10 are mounted, the forward wheels of the car ride up over the wheel lifter structures 11 and onto the intermediate wheel and support structures 13. The Wheels roll along on the structures 13 until they engage the first and lower abutments 32 at which time, if the car is moving relatively slowly, relative movement between the wheels and the track skates 10 terminates. If the car is moving faster, the wheels ride up onto the lower abutments 32 and engage the second and upper abutments 33, at which time relative movement between the wheels and the skates 10 is completely stopped. The skates 10 then slide along'the rails and, more particularly, the rust-proof supporting structures 49 slide along the top of the rails with suiiicient friction to slow down, if not altogether stop, the movement of the -railroad car before the track skates nally engage the cushion stops 2t). Because of the articulation of skate 10, a relatively uniform fricvtional retarding force is thus exerted on the car as` the skates move between the fish plates 16 and the cushion stops 29 irrespective of irregularities inthe straightness of the rail. After the car has been stopped, and probably left in that position for some time, it may be removed by pullingit away from the stops 2t). When this is done, the wheels roll back along the skates 10 until they engage the heels 35. Since the car is moving relatively slowly at this time, relative `movement between the skate and the support wheel is terminated and the skates slidably move back along 'the rail until they engage the fish plates 16. Inasmuch as the bars 49 are constructed of stainless steel or some other rust-proof material,V the skates 10 ldo not become stuck to the track irrespective of the length of time that they have been left in one position on the rails, and because of the articulation of the skates they move along the rails until they engage the fish plates 16. When the skates engage the fish plates 16 and further movement thereof is prevented, the car wheels ride up the inclined heels 35 and down the inclined leading edges of the skates 10 and onto the rails, at which time the car may travel freely along the rails.

It may thus be seen that the present invention provides a relatively simple and inexpensive and yet reliable track skate whichv may be used for protecting the end of a set of rails while at the same time bringing any cars which approach the rail to a slow and cushioned stop.

While the present invention has been described in connection with particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood that those skilled in the art may make many What is `claimed as new and desired to be secured by t Letters'Patent of theUnited States is:

1. A skate adapted slidably to be mounted on a rail as part' of va skate wheel stop,- -including in combination, articulated sectionalized vstructure defining a front wheel lifter portion having means thereonfor lifting the .wheel from the rail, an intermediate substantially -flat wheel receiving and supportingftrack portion anda rear Wheel engaging abutment porti0n,said portions being arranged in end to end relation and having substantial overall length, said articulated structure providing for both horizontal and vertical relativemovenrent between adjacent sections of the structure better to enable the skate to be moved along tracks Vhaving either horizontaler vertical irregularities the-rein, and rail head engaging skate guiding and holding means carried in spaced apart relation on said front and rear portions and including structure engageable with the undersides of the rail head for movably supporting the skate on a rail.

-2. A skate adapted slidably to be mounted on a rail as part of a skate wheel stop, including in combination, articulated sectionalized structure defining a front wheel lifter portion having means thereon for lifting the wheel from the rail, an intermediate substantially at wheel receiving and supporting track portion and a rear Wheel engaging abutment portion, said portions being arranged in end to end relation and presenting thereby substantial over-al1 length, articulating means connecting said front wheel lifter portion to one end of the intermediate portion and the rear wheel engaging abutment portion to the opposite end of said intermediate portion whereby the several portions are movable relative to each other both horizontally and vertically, and rail head engaging skate guiding and holding means including structure engageable with the undersides of the rail head carried by the front wheel lifter portion and the rear Wheel engaging abutment portion such that the `skate structure is held on an associated rail at two widely spaced points with the articulated connections between the several portions lying between such points of holding.

3. A skate adapted slidably to be mounted on a rail aspart of a skate Wheel stop, including in combination, a front wheel lifter portion having means thereon for lifting the wheel from the rail, an intermediate substantially flat wheel receiving and supporting track portion and a rear wheel engaging abutment portion, said portions being disposed in end to end relation presenting a skate structure of considerable over-all length, means connecting said front wheel lifter portion to one end of said intermediate portion, means connecting said rear. wheel engaging abutment portion to -the oppositeend of said intermediate-portion, both of said means, being flexible to permit movement between adjacent sections in vertical and horizontal directions, irstandsecond rail head engaging skate guiding 'and holding means including structure engageable with the undersides of the railv head, said iirst holding means Ybeing fixed t'o 's aid front wheel lifter portionand said second holding means being iixed to said rear wheel engaging abutment'portion whereby the articulated connectionsv between adjacent portions lie between such holding means.

4. A car wheel receiving and supporting skate adapted slidably to be mounted on a rail for movement between an initial starting place and av stop defining abutment, said skate including means for supporting and engage# able by a car wheel for effecting movement of the skate from the starting place to the stop and means engageable by the car wheel to return the skate to its starting place, said skate having 'a substantial overall length being divided into at least three sections of substantially equal length, flexible means interconnecting adjacent ones of said sections so that said sections may molve angularly relative to each other, and railhead engaging skate guidi ing and holding means carried in substantial spaced apart relation on the end sections and including structure er1- gageable with the railhead for movably supporting the skate on a rail. I

5. The car wheel `receiving and supporting skate as set forth in claim 4, wherein the skate is made of metal subject to rusting and wherein said skate has a supporting structure at the underside thereof to slidably support the skate on the rail, `said supporting structure being of rust proof metal.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,084,463 McDonald Jan. 13, 1914 1,216,639 Wenrich Feb. 20, 1917 1,407,396 English Feb. 21, 1922 1,439,089 Gallagher ,Dec. 19,1922 1,541,892 Bein June 16, 1925 1,575,411 Breyley Mar. 2, 1926 1,580,836 McGahey Apr. 13, 1926 1,823,964 Wenzel Sept. 22, 1931 2,199,166 Warden Apr. 30, 1940 2,441,148 Hayes May 11, 1948 2,441,193 Hayes May l1, 1948 2,613,612 Bone. Oct. 14, 1952 y2,782,728 Beck Feb. 26, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 66,923 Austria Oct. 26, 1914 440,011 France Apr. 22, 1912 104,068 Germany July 5, 1899 372,845 Great Britain May 19, 1932 

